Method for Conversion of Earth-Working Bucket and Attachment Therefor

ABSTRACT

An attachment for an earth-working bucket having a pair of sidewalls and a digging edge with a plurality of forwardly extending teeth. The attachment has a pair of working plates and a pair of side plates each joined with both working plates and extending rearwardly therefrom. The pair of working plates converge together to a straight scraping edge and have inside surfaces together defining a teeth-receiving cavity. A method includes placing the attachment with the straight scraping edge forward of the teeth such that the teeth are in the teeth-receiving cavity, positioning each side plate against a surface of the respective sidewall of the bucket and securing each side plate to the respective sidewall of the bucket.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an attachment for toothed buckets of the type used on earth working equipment. More particularly, this invention relates to a method by which a toothed digging edge is quickly converted to a straight scraping edge of such bucket.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the usual building or construction project, considerable trenching and digging normally are required as a part of such work as pouring concrete footings and foundations, laying water lines, installing drainage tile and sewer pipes and systems, uncovering existing utility pipes and lines, waterproofing and reinforcing existing foundations, and the like. Much of this trenching and digging is accomplished by the use of an earth working machine designed primarily for that type of work, such as a backhoe or similar machine equipped with a hydraulically operated boom provided at its distal end with a bucket capable of digging into and picking up and removing dirt, rocks, rubble, and like materials. The digging edge of the bucket is provided with a row of forwardly projecting pointed teeth designed to withstand considerable use and pressure in order to accomplish the ripping and cutting normally necessary to penetrate, break and pick up the dirt being excavated.

In a typical construction or building project of any significant size, a backhoe or a similar boom-equipped machine is used primarily for such work as digging and trenching. A separate grader or end loader with a straight edge scraper blade is normally used to push dirt back into the trenches and excavations for filling, leveling or grading because of certain problems inherent in using a toothed bucket for such “finishing” work.

On smaller or emergency jobs requiring use of a backhoe, a separate grader or end loader may not be available. This makes it necessary on such jobs to refill trenches and excavations and otherwise level and grade dirt either manually or with the backhoe, or using a combination of the two.

As those in the construction business appreciate, a typical backhoe bucket is quite unsatisfactory for use in scraping dirt or in leveling or grading because of the teeth on the working edge of the bucket. A considerable amount dirt is left behind and must then be raked or shoveled manually if the bucket is held high enough to avoid penetration of the teeth into the ground being cleared. If the bucket is lowered enough to scrape most of the dirt from the ground to be cleared, the teeth penetrate into and tear and damage the ground, thus again requiring manual leveling and finishing.

Many solutions have been proposed, including those discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,070,345 (Akaki et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,449 (Webb et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,389 (Hall), U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,815 (Yunker et al.), etc. For a variety of reasons, however, none of these prior proposals have proven satisfactory. Accordingly, there is a continued need for a system permitting the use of the usual toothed backhoe bucket for back filling, scraping, leveling or otherwise grading dirt.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an improved attachment for an earth-working bucket. The bucket has a pair of sidewalls and a digging edge with a plurality of teeth extending forwardly therefrom. The attachment has a pair of working plates and a pair of side plates each joined with both working plates. The pair of working plates converge together to form a straight scraping edge and have inside surfaces together defining a teeth-receiving cavity. The pair of side plates extend rearwardly from the working plates for positioning against an outer surface of a respective sidewall of the bucket for securement thereto. Depending on a size of the bucket, the working plates may be positioned against inner or outer substantially flat side surfaces of the bucket sidewalls.

In certain embodiments, the teeth-receiving cavity is configured and dimensioned for frictional engagement of the working plates with the teeth. The teeth-receiving cavity may be configured and dimensioned such that the intersection of the inside surfaces of the working plates is beyond the distal ends of the teeth.

Each side plate may be welded to each of the working plates which are welded together along the straight scraping edge. The straight scraping edge may include an earth-engaging reinforcement member secured to the converging working plates.

In some versions, the side plates have proximal portions spaced apart by a smaller distance than the length of the straight scraping edge. In some of such versions, each side plate has a bent portion between the proximal portion and a distal portion which is joined with the working plates. The proximal and distal portions may be offset and substantially parallel.

In certain embodiments, each side plate defines a through hole positioned for alignment with a hole through the respective bucket sidewall for passing a fastener through the aligned holes to secure the attachment to the bucket. The fastener may be a bolt with a shank extending from a bolt head through the aligned holes to a thread for engagement by a complementary nut to secure the side plates to the bucket sidewalls.

In some embodiments, when the attachment is secured to the bucket, one of the bolt head and the nut is flush with a side-plate surface and the other of the bolt head and the nut is within an inner recess formed by the respective bucket sidewall about the hole therethrough. In some versions, when the attachment is secured to the bucket, the bolt head is flush against the side-plates surface and the nut is at the inner surface of the respective bucket sidewall. In various buckets, the recesses may be along inner or outer surfaces of the bucket sidewalls.

Another aspect of the present invention is a method for conversion of the earth-working bucket from having a toothed digging edge to having a straight scraping edge. In some embodiments of the method, the attachment is provided and placed with the straight scraping edge forward of the teeth of the bucket such that the teeth are in the teeth-receiving cavity. Each side plate is positioned against a surface of the respective sidewall of the bucket. Each side plate is then secured to the respective sidewall of the bucket.

In the embodiments with each side plate defining a through hole, the securing step is by aligning each of the side-plate through holes with a hole through a respective sidewall of the bucket. A fastener is then passed through the aligned holes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a toothed earth-working bucket converted to having a straight scraping edge by an exemplary embodiment of the attachment in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary top view of the converted bucket of FIG. 1, illustrating an exemplary securement of the attachment to the bucket.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the attachment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a top rear view of the attachment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a rear view of the attachment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary side view of the attachment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view of the attachment of FIG. 1, showing a side-plate surface for positioning against a surface of a bucket sidewall.

FIG. 8 is a perspective front view of the converted bucket of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view of a bucket sidewall with a hole therethrough.

FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view in plane 10-10 shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view of one example of a fastener securement of the attachment to the bucket.

FIG. 12 is a schematic illustration of an example of an earth-working machine with toothed buckets for which the attachment(s) in accordance with the present invention may be used.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1-12 illustrate an earth-working bucket 10 having a toothed digging edge 12 and an improved attachment 20 with a straight scraping edge 22. FIGS. 1, 2 and 12 show bucket 10 having a plurality of teeth 13 extending forwardly from edge 12 of a middle wall 14 bordered by a pair of sidewalls 15. FIG. 12 shows an example of an earth-working machine 100 which has a front bucket 10A and a rear bucket 10 b of different sizes. The attachment according to the present invention may be made for buckets of different sizes.

Attachment 20 has an inner working plate 31 and an outer working plate 33 and a pair of side plates 40 each joined with both working plates 31 and 33. Working plates 31 and 33 converge together to form straight scraping edge 22. Inner working plate 31 extends generally along planes of a bucket inner middle surface 141 which during digging typically receives loosened dirt. Outer plate 33 extends generally along planes of a bucket outer middle surface 142 which during use typically contacts the cut ground surface. Outer surfaces 142A and 142B of buckets 10A and 10B are shown in FIG. 12.

FIGS. 4-7 best shows that an inside surface 32 of inner working plate 31 and an inside surface 34 of outer working plate 33 together define a teeth-receiving cavity 24. FIG. 10 shows teeth-receiving cavity configured and dimensioned such that an intersection 26 of inside surfaces 32 and 34 of the working plates 31 and 33 is beyond the distal ends 131 of teeth 13. An angle between the working plates is such that the flex in the working plates retains the attachment on the teeth.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, teeth-receiving cavity 24 is shown configured and dimensioned for frictional engagement of working plates 31 and 33 with teeth 13. Such snug fitting minimizes stress on the securement of the attachment to the bucket. It should be noted that, during use, the attachment is pushed over the bucket teeth by the resistance of the ground against which the machine forces the bucket and the teeth.

FIGS. 1-8 best show side plates 40 extending rearwardly from working plates 31 and 33. FIG. 8 shows an example of working plates 31 and 33 being positioned against an outer surface 16 of a respective sidewall 15 of bucket 10.

Each side plate 40 is welded to each of working plates 31 and 33. FIG. 10 shows working plates 31 and 33 welded together along straight scraping edge 22. FIG. 10 further shows straight scraping edge 22 including an earth-engaging reinforcement member 28 secured to converging working plates 31 and 33.

FIG. 2-4 best show side plates 40 having proximal portions 42 spaced apart by a distance 43 which is smaller than the length 23 of straight scraping edge 22. The greater width of the straight edge forms a loosened-dirt path which facilitates freedom of the bucket flow following the straight edge.

It is seen in FIGS. 1-8 that, in some of such versions, each side plate 40 has a bent portion 44 between proximal portion 42 and a distal portion 45 which is joined with working plates 31 and 33. FIGS. 3-5 show proximal portions 42 and distal portions 45 offset and substantially parallel.

FIGS. 1-8 further illustrate each side plate 40 defining a through hole 46. It is best seen in FIG. 2 that through hole 46 is positioned for alignment with a hole 17 through respective bucket sidewall 15 for passing a fastener 50 through aligned holes 46 and 17 to secure attachment 20 to bucket 10. FIG. 11 schematically shows that the fastener may be a bolt 51 with a shank 52 extending from a bolt head 53 through aligned holes 17 and 46 to a thread 54 for engagement by a complementary nut 55 to secure side plates 40 to bucket sidewalls 15.

FIG. 11 shows one example of the attachment being secured to the bucket such that bolt head 53 is flush with an outer surface 41 of side plate 40 and nut 55 is within an inner recess 18 defined by the respective bucket sidewall 15 around hole 17 therethrough. Such exemplary configuration protects parts and their connections during use by minimizing stress from loosened dirt inside the bucket and the hard outside ground.

FIGS. 1-12 also illustrate an inventive method for conversion of earth-working bucket 10 from having toothed digging edge 12 to having straight scraping edge 22. FIGS. 1 and 8 show attachment 20 placed with straight scraping edge 22 forward of teeth 13 of bucket 10 such that teeth 13 are in teeth-receiving cavity 24, as also seen in FIG. 10. FIGS. 1, 2 and 8 show each side plate 40 positioned against outer surface 16 of respective sidewall 15 of bucket 10. In FIGS. 2 and 11, side plates 40 are shown secured to the respective sidewall 15 of bucket 10.

FIG. 11 best illustrates exemplary details of a securement of attachment 20 to bucket 10. In the illustrates example, each of the side-plate through holes 46 is aligned with hole 17 through a respective sidewall 15 of bucket 10. After such alignment, fastener 50 is passed through aligned holes 17 and 46.

While the principles of the invention have been shown and described in connection with specific embodiments, it is to be understood that such embodiments are by way of example and are not limiting. 

1. An attachment for an earth-working bucket, the bucket having a pair of sidewalls and a digging edge with a plurality of teeth extending forwardly therefrom, the attachment comprising: a pair of working plates converging together to a straight scraping edge and having inside surfaces together defining a teeth-receiving cavity; and a pair of side plates each joined with both working plates and extending rearwardly therefrom for positioning against a surface of a respective sidewall of the bucket for securement thereto.
 2. The bucket attachment of claim 1 wherein the teeth-receiving cavity is configured and dimensioned for frictional engagement of the working plates with the teeth.
 3. The bucket attachment of claim 1 wherein the teeth-receiving cavity is configured and dimensioned such that the intersection of the inside surfaces of the working plates is beyond the distal ends of the teeth.
 4. The bucket attachment of claim 3 wherein the teeth-receiving cavity is configured and dimensioned for frictional engagement of the working plates with the teeth.
 5. The bucket attachment of claim 1 wherein the straight scraping edge comprises an earth-engaging reinforcement member secured to the converging working plates.
 6. The bucket attachment of claim 1 wherein the side plates have proximal portions spaced apart by a smaller distance than the length of the straight scraping edge.
 7. The bucket attachment of claim 6 wherein each side plate has a bent portion between the proximal portion and a distal portion which is joined with the working plates, the proximal and distal portions being offset and substantially parallel.
 8. The bucket attachment of claim 1 wherein each side plate is welded to each of the working plates which are welded together along the straight scraping edge.
 9. The bucket attachment of claim 8 wherein the straight scraping edge comprises an earth-engaging reinforcement member secured to the converging working plates.
 10. The bucket attachment of claim 1 wherein each side plate defines a through hole positioned for alignment with a hole through the respective bucket sidewall for passing a fastener through the aligned holes to secure the attachment to the bucket.
 11. The bucket attachment of claim 10 wherein the fastener is a bolt with a shank extending from a bolt head through the aligned holes to a thread for engagement by a complementary nut to secure the side plates to the bucket sidewalls.
 12. The bucket attachment of claim 11 wherein the teeth-receiving cavity is configured and dimensioned for frictional engagement of the working plates with the teeth.
 13. The bucket attachment of claim 11 wherein, when the attachment is secured to the bucket, one of the bolt head and the nut is flush with a side-plate surface and the other of the bolt head and the nut is within a recess formed by the respective bucket sidewall about the hole therethrough.
 14. The bucket attachment of claim 13 wherein: the side plates have proximal portions spaced apart by a smaller distance than the length of the straight scraping edge; and each side plate has a bent portion between the proximal portion and a distal portion which is joined with the working plates, the proximal and distal portions being offset and substantially parallel.
 15. The bucket attachment of claim 14 wherein, when the attachment is secured to the bucket, the bolt head is flush with the side-plate surface and the nut is at the inner surface of the respective bucket sidewall.
 16. A method for conversion of an earth-working bucket from having a toothed digging edge to having a straight scraping edge, the bucket having a pair of sidewalls and a digging edge with a plurality of teeth extending forwardly therefrom, the method comprising: providing an attachment including: a pair of working plates converging together to a straight scraping edge and having inside surfaces together defining a teeth-receiving cavity; and a pair of side plates each joined with both working plates and extending rearwardly therefrom; placing the attachment with the straight scraping edge forward of the teeth such that the teeth are in the teeth-receiving cavity; positioning each side plate against a surface of the respective sidewall of the bucket; and securing each side plate to the respective sidewall of the bucket.
 17. The method of claim 16 wherein the teeth-receiving cavity is configured and dimensioned such that the working plates are frictionally engaged with the teeth.
 18. The method of claim 16 wherein each side plate defines a through hole and the securing step includes steps of: aligning the side-plate through hole with a hole through a respective sidewall of the bucket; and passing a fastener through the aligned holes.
 19. The method of claim 18 wherein the fastener is a bolt with a nut engaging a threaded bolt shank which extends from a bolt head through the aligned holes, one of the bolt head and the nut being flush with a side-plate surface and the other of the bolt head and the nut being at a surface of the bucket sidewall.
 20. The method of claim 19 wherein: the bucket sidewall defines a recess about the hole; and one of the bolt head and the nut is within the inner recess. 